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Press Photo by Royal McGregor
Dickinson sophomore Kira Zastoupil, right, shoots past Williston defender Jordan Hill during a statewide game on Tuesday at the Dickinson Recreation Center. Zastoupil scored a goal on a the shot. The Coyotes defeated the Midgets 6-2 after scoring three goals in the final nine minutes of the third period.2 / 2

The Williston girls hockey team played its third game in five days on the road.

Needless to say, the Coyotes fell into a bit of a lull and the Midgets took full advantage.

However, Williston scored three unanswered goals in the final nine minutes to take a 6-2 win over Dickinson on Tuesday at the Dickinson Recreation Center.

“In the first period, we were running around and not playing where we needed to be playing, but we are playing hard and we are certainly trying,” Dickinson head coach Al Takle said. “In the second period, we started developing more offense and in the third, even though we didn’t get a lot of shots on net, we kept the puck in their zone. Now, we just have to put it all together.”

The Midgets (1-1, 0-1 statewide) were within striking distance at 8:13 mark of the third period after sophomore Kira Zastoupil netted an unassisted goal — her third of the season. Junior forward Kayla Wallace, who scored the Midgets’ opening goal, said the team had huge boost of confidence.

“We’ve improved so much from last year,” Wallace said. “If we are already this good at the beginning of the season, I think we can do really good things this season.

“(After Zastoupil’s goal) I thought we were for sure going to win and everyone got hyped up. We just have to condition more to get there.”

The Coyotes (3-0, 3-0 statewide) responded with three goals by three different players in a span of nine minutes. Keely Kleven started the three-goal barrage, while Amanda Nelson and Sam Miller followed.

Each goal Williston scored was by a different player. Mat Ekblad — Williston head coach — said it’s great to have a variety of scorers throughout the game. It makes everyone’s job on the ice easier.

“It’s always good if you can have balanced scoring and you get points from all your lines,” he said. “We ran three lines consistently. It is good to have multiple threats on the ice, because then you can’t key on one or two girls. It was good to have multiple girls put the puck in the back of the net.”

Kleven finished five points with the one goal and four assists. Miller posted three assists and one goal, while Nelson added two assists and one goal. Maddy McLee picked up the win in goal.

Wallace said her first goal of the season wouldn’t have been possible without the assistance of Rachel Lantz and McKenna Love.

“It was really exciting, but it was mostly because of Rachel,” Wallace with a laugh.

Though this game for the Midgets will show up in the loss column, Takle, Wallace and even Ekblad were impressed with their performance.

“This Williston team is certainly a good team,” Takle said. “They beat Grand Forks and Devils Lake already. They are a formidable opponent. We are getting better.”

Ekblad added: “We knew coming in here it was going to be a good game, because Dickinson is a much improved hockey team.”

The Midgets continue their season traveling to West Fargo at 6:30 p.m. Friday and Fargo North at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.